Vehicle strikes pole in Plains

The Plains Police Department is looking for the person who ran into a power pole on the corner of West Oak and South Willis Streets and then left the scene without notifying authorities.

The pole was struck on Wednesday morning of Feb. 8, although Chief of Police Brian Josephson refused to give out any information about the incident, even when it occurred. The accident took place on the corner directly across from the Plains Lions Club wading pool. Plains resident Charles Bickenheuser, who lives on the corner where the pole was hit, said the pole was struck sometime between 7:30-8:30 that morning. He didn't see the accident, but heard a "loud bang." Though he wasn't the initial reporting source, he has been in discussions with town officials for more than a year about some type of effective safety device at that corner due to the number of youngsters that play in the E.L. Johnson Memorial Park.

Bickenheuser noticed the amount of damage when he went outside and workers from NorthWestern Energy were on scene. He talked with the workers and took photographs of the pole, which was replaced that day. The new pole was placed about 10 feet from the broken one, which was about two feet from the crosswalk. The Plains man also said that a piece of the vehicle was left at the scene, but Josephson would not confirm that information.

"The impact area on the power pole is too high off the road surface and too tall from the bottom to the top of the impact area to have been made by a car," said Bickenheuser. "The collision sounded like a truck pulling a heavy trailer as the wheels hit a pothole or an object on the road," he added.

The damage was severe enough that the entire pole had to be replaced. He said that had a person been standing in that spot, he or she would have been hit. He added that people routinely travel too fast past the park. He also said that it looked like the vehicle, which he believes was a large one, was traveling from the direction of the river. Bickenheuser said there was no ice on the road in the area and the damage went from about four feet to around 10 feet high. The cost of a replacement pole was between $2,500-$3,000, according to Jo Dee Black, a public relations specialist with NorthWestern Energy.

Bickenheuser has been a resident for just over three years but has taken an active role in efforts to make the area around the park more safe. A speed bump was installed two years ago, but he said many just drove around it, sometimes on his lawn. However, the speed bump was eventually moved to a street on the other side of town. He sent a letter about the pole incident to the town council and Mayor Chris Allen, along with a photograph of the damaged pole. Several neighbors have asked him about the incident.

"This crossing needs clear markings on the road, signs about stopping for pedestrians, and hopefully an electric street light activated by the pedestrian wanting to use the crosswalk safely," he said in the letter, along with a request to have corrections made immediately for the safety of children in the community. "Otherwise, the town council can expect a room full of parents at the March meeting demanding safety corrections be made immediately."

Bickenheuser has sent several ideas to the town council in an effort to make the area around the park safer, including painting a crosswalk, caution signs and kids playing signs, push-to-walk devices at the intersection, stop signs, solar powered flashing lights with push button activation, and hand-held flags, which are kept at each end of the crosswalk, for people to carry as they cross the street.

His latest suggestion was a crossing signal, which would run between $3,000 and $7,000. Bickenheuser bought reflectors that he attached to the new pole. He would like the town to address the problem of the dangers at the intersection and the frequent speeders. Bickenheuser said that neither he nor his wife want to see a person severely injured or killed. He believes that if town officials don't take some sort of effective traffic control measures, an accident will likely happen.

"In the last three years, the town council has heard comments at least yearly regarding the vehicle speed on Willis Street near the wading pool and comments about the intersection at Willis and Oak Streets," he said in his letter to council. "Since this is a publicly known issue, what would an attorney for an injured or deceased child find on discovery?" he asked them.

"In that case, we need to elect council members who care about our children, parents, and pedestrians' safety. Since this intersection is a known danger, when a child or parent is killed or injured, the discovery of letters and public comments at town council meetings by the plaintiff's attorneys will cost the town millions of dollars in damages."